It might not seem like it, but I haven't abandoned this little blog.  I decided to leave it alone for a while because the stress of the end of the school year plus moving was enough without trying to remember to write here.  When we got moved I promised myself I would start up again when the kids started school.  And here it is August 12 and they are on day 2 of school so here I am!
 
School started Friday, which seems super weird to me.  Why not just start on Monday?  It is a really small, old neighborhood elementary school.   The lunchroom slash gym slash auditorium reminds me of my days at KP Elementary in Maryland.  Unfortunately we only got the kids registered for school two days before it started because we couldn't do their doctors visits before that because our insurance didn't start until August 1.  It makes no sense.  I have learned that things run differently in West Virginia than they do anywhere else I have ever lived.  Anyway, we got their TB tests read and their immunizations up to date and they are off to school in whatever classroom had an available spot.  Aiden's teacher is awesome.  Really nice and her daughter just finished residency at UAB! And she lived in Homewood! When I met the teacher the first day she said, "Well, this isn't Homewood....." Ha! Who ever thought we would move somewhere that considers themselves less than Alabama?  So funny.  Brooks got put in a 2/3 split. Which I'm not trilled about but once again I don't have a choice.   He has a little girl in his class who just moved here from Alabama too.  Poor girl had the saddest, reddest eyes on the first day.  He has proven to be really good at adapting to this new situation, which has surprised me.  It sounds like his teacher is a yeller, but he should fly under her radar.  He did fine but didn't like when the principal came in at lunch and screamed at them and made them clean up the mess that the 1st graders left.  Then told them to be completely silent.  Sounds lovely, eh?  Poor Cate had the hardest time.  She had been so excited about school all summer.  Every day she would beg me to take her to school, she wanted to start kindergarten already! Then we had meet the teacher night and the teacher didn't even address her.  And she was rude to me! Cate is so very shy I am afraid she won't say a word all day.  This morning she was crying so hard and begging me to let her stay home from school.  I worry about her, but I know I can take her out if it gets too bad.  She loves doing workbooks at home and so it makes me sad to see her hate school so much.  She says her teacher yells a lot and even though they have a bathroom in the classroom, she will only let them go once a day.  So, the first day was rough.  I'm hoping today will be better.

Overall, this has been a tough move.  We went straight from residency graduation dinner to our long and painful drive here.  It was only long and painful because the moving truck broke down twice.  We didn't even have one day to celebrate as a family.  Lewis started fellowship the morning we got here and this weekend was the first time he hasn't gone into the hospital at all since that day.  So, he started June 24 and August 10 was his first real day off.  Wow.  His days have been really long, 14-18 hours, but this week he did get home at a reasonable hour a couple of times.  I hope it will stay that way!   The kids and I stayed busy going to the pool or the park or the Clay Center which is a children's museum.  We also found the library and have met some really nice people from church.  Moving is so hard, but I know that it will make my kids stronger and help them to be more compassionate and kind to new kids in the future.